Was King George I Responsible

Above all, Kings are to be responsible. They should uphold promises they have
committed to, and hold responsibility for their actions. They should be confident in
appearance, along with maintain confidence in choices they make. These, however, do
not describe King George IV. George IV is an ill example of a ruler. As a matter of fact,
he is described as the opposites of responsible and confident. Known as the “The Royal
Joke” (Parissien), he was a gluttonous alcoholic, too obsessed with the simple
pleasures of feasting, drinking, and the possible multiple affairs, to think about the
community he leads.
King George, as a ruler, had poor judgement and low confidence, especially
when he neared the end. Allowing his life to be consumed by numbing

activities, such
as drinking, he displayed his poor judgement. This can be represented with his constant
use of alcohol and his many affairs with women. His poor judgement made him a
despised ruler, as stated by Parissien, “Never in modern times has a sovereign died so
unlamented, nor has the person of the monarch retained so little respect after death, as
King George IV.” His confidence was also tied in with this, as also stated by Parissien,
“Although he was frequently complimented on his manners, when it came to people or
principle he found it all too easy to abandon them, along with consideration and
politeness.” The way he slouched in his chair showed how truly confident in himself he
was.

Even though he had an idealized image of how he was, it bore little relation to
reality’s image of him. He was often gazed upon with humour and belittlement by his
subjects, and his parents. As he went along in life, the obsession for simple pleasures
took over his mind, dulling him to the reality that he was a complete, royal fool.
King George can also be described as lazy, self-centered, and cowardly. As his
senior aide states in his private book, “A more contemptible, cowardly, selfish, unfeeling
dog does not exist ... There have been good and wise kings but not many of them ...
and this I believe to be one of the worst.” During his reign, he was often followed by
contemptuous looks due to his obesity. Focusing more on self-pleasures, like

affairs
and drinking, he forgets to pay bills, and he preferred “a girl and a bottle to politics and a
sermon” (The Times). He had become so obese, he was reportedly known to have
looked “like a great sausage stuffed into the covering” (Wilkie). Due to his undesirable
state of pain and obesity, he began to take laudanum, leaving him in a drugged and
mentally handicapped state of mind for days on end. Sans feeling in his right hand,
George IV was unable to sign documents of any caliber. All of these were caused by the
simple pleasure of gluttony he experienced. Putting his own wants and desires over the
state’s and community’s well being had was truly noticeable now.
All in all, King George IV could not be does not hold the desired traits that a king
should hold. As kings should be responsible, confident, George IV was the opposite of
the fact. Over the years, his unkempt being began to dissolve his confidence, along with
his public image. Being known now as “The Royal Joke”, he now has stamped in his
legacy as an ill and irresponsible leader. This is why George IV is not a good example
of a ruler.